Poverty in cultural journalism is an interesting topic to consider in the context of the epidemic.

Through journalistic “vampirism” (a self-made word to describe the phenomenon where a part of an intellectual’s speech is placed as a direct speech and a part is rewritten by a journalist as if it were his own thought), writing ordinary cultural material is delayed indefinitely.

This is how the mass media wrote about the presentation, the premiere, the exhibition, the concert, or the previous press conferences.

There has already been a temporary dispute over whether or not to provide press releases to journalists. It is provided, in extreme situations copied, moreover, it is preferable in a digital format, in order for the process of copying that information not to be more of a hassle.

In the case that it is not provided, there will be confusion and a parade of mistakes – terms, names … In both cases, a bad result was guaranteed.

The uncertainty of returning to normal is a test for journalism of this quality. In our media field, that source used to fill the cultural landing page (cultural event) has dried up, and journalists are not skilled in writing independent material, and the already low voice of cultural media has become even thinner in the context of the pandemic and governmental and political noise.

Website culture pages are similar now, even the order of the news is preserved, unauthorized, with the same title, and sometimes, according to preference, changed with a provocative title.

Of course, this setback, pushing the culture to the brink, did not happen in one day. For decades, journalists who have been able to engage in culture have been able to move smoothly into the political arena: they are editors, they cover the National Assembly, they are MPs, while the topic of culture is left as a field for beginners or those with less credibility.

Many newspapers, especially websites, already do not have traditional-compulsory culture sections, and this news is provided under the headings of science and culture, education and culture, and show business, or under “More.”

If TV companies had Culture at the end of the news, such as sweet, light-hearted news, as an ornament, today it is difficult to provide even that.

As with the original, slow rhythm, it was patchy, and these days the culture section of Hetq remains the same. For example, the Saroyan House in Fresno, William Saroyan’s house-museum, commented on Saroyan’s famous “The Armenian and the Armenian” story’s mistake, quoting the original.

According to one of the last decisions of the commandant, creative activity is allowed after a two-month break.

However, the return to traditional, crowded events and presentations is uncertain in the future, so the media must find a way out of the gravitational-waiting situation, and change from placing meaningless news to creating and disseminating content.

Artists often look for ways to get out of the circle of media indifference and emphasize the importance of what they do.

Film director Jivan Avetisyan, for example, does not rely on the press, does not wait for his work to be addressed, or for the media to forget what he has done and is doing. He starts to spread the news about his film, which is still in the stage of conception, across almost all Armenian and Artsakh media.

The mostly unsigned materials are probably created by his team, who take into consideration that good news is remembered and the source is forgotten.

An author’s materials are treated in the same style. “Jivan Avetisyan’s The Last Inhabitant “seeks to participate in the Oscar Awards. This video of Public has more than 3,000 views.

Of course, one can talk about what has been done, but the team also silences those who express other views with their hands. “After one or two reckless comments following the premiere of the film, the media was flooded with only positive feedback.”

It remains to add for the sake of justice, they were flooded from only one source.

Cultural materials: report on crime

Cultural news has escalated since the revolution as if there were reports on crime.

Here is one of the latest news: as a result of the inspection of the funds of the “Exhibition Center” it turned out that things of cultural value worth millions of dram are missing, including two valuable paintings: Martiros Saryan’s “Armenia” painting and Hovhannes Zardaryan’s “Renaissance” painting.

April 16 was officially marked as Armenian Cinema Day for the first time, expressing hope that “the new reality will become the beginning of a new path for the publicization of Armenian cinema.”

So far, the old glory of Armenian cinema is remembered, the criminal is what is publicized, the criminal series that has been stretched and branching out for about two years at the National Cinema Center.

The criminal story started very dramatically. In parallel with the revolution, film director Hovhannes Galstyan went on a hunger strike, telling tangled stories of looting, stubbornly tearing up the substance of the protest.

Later, well-known actors such as former Ministers of Culture Amiryan, Makunts and Gharibyan, former and current Presidents of the Cinema Center Giorgi Khorgyan, Shushanik Mirzakhanyan and Chairman of the Union of Cinematographers Harutyun Khachatryan appeared in the parallel of film history.

Nazeni Gharibyan revealed that Galstyan, who had received huge sums of money from the cinema center in a few years, had released a 17-minute low-quality production, and Galstyan had sued Minister Amiryan for taking 7 million pockets of money from his cinema money and not returning it.

The next honorable and rich American intellectual Amiryan called from afar “Don’t slander on Easter”

The next part of the continuous criminal series of Armenian cinema was on May 10, this time Hovhannes Galstyan in an open letter involved more than the busy prime minister.

This endless and humiliating story inadvertently coincides with the idea of the Russian writer Saltikov-Shchedrin. “If I go to sleep and wake up 100 years later and am asked what is happening in Russia today, I will answer: they drink and steal.”

We are also going through court proceedings to find out what has been done in Armenia besides drinking the toast of Armenian cinema.

Gayane Mkrtchyan

The views expressed in the column are those of the author's and do not necessarily reflect the views of Media.am.